Thai Oolong Tea

Doi ("Mountain") Mae Salong is a pristine high mountain oolong tea growing region in the far northern borderland in Chiang Rai province. Organic oolong tea farmer and manager Khun Ming checks her Qingxin cultivar gardens. The tea gardens in the background are also part of Khun Ming's farm. Each plot is planted with a different specialty oolong tea cultivar.

Most oolong tea is picked according to a plucking standard of three leaves and a bud. Withering under direct sunlight is critical for proper enzymatic activity and to facilitate the slow, controlled oxidation that makes oolong tea so special.

Qingxin cultivar tea bushes in Doi Mae Salong are harvested in spring and summer to make Bai Hao Oolong Tips.

Skilled tea pickers use both hands to collect the fresh leaf swiftly. This spring, the weather has been very hot and dry so many of the pickers wear hats, scarves, and long sleeves to stay cool while picking tea.

Tea artisans Aso (right) and Demachoo (left) spread the fresh leaf out to wither in thin layers under direct sunlight. With the spring sun being so hot this year, the tea leaves will only require 2-3 hours of outdoor sun withering before they are ready to move inside for indoor cool withering.

Many of the cultivars growing in Doi Mae Salong can flush 4-6 times per year. When the weather is dry, as it has been this spring, the farmers irrigate the gardens with sprinkler systems to ensure the trees remain healthy and productive until the monsoon rains come in summer.

Oolong teas are picked according to a plucking standard of three leaves and a bud.

There are about 21 tea pluckers that handle the harvesting for Rishi's organic oolong teas in Doi Mae Salong, Thailand. The pluckers and garden fresh leaf manager Mr Ar Yi are from the local Akha hill tribe. There are pluckers from the Li Zu tribe as well.

Fresh leaf and garden manager Mr Ar Yi.

Ruby Qingming Micro-lot harvesting.

The cultivation and production of oolong tea is time-intensive and nuanced. The production needs to be continually adapted depending on prevailing conditions. Within the factory, variable elements like humidity, temperature, sunlight, and airflow all play an important role in how tea leaf flavor and aroma evolves. Feeling, smelling, and sensing the tea leaves is the only way make truly special oolong tea.

The cultivation and production of oolong tea is time-intensive and nuanced. The production needs to be continually adapted depending on prevailing conditions. Within the factory, variable elements like humidity, temperature, sunlight, and airflow all play an important role in how tea leaf flavor and aroma evolves. Feeling, smelling, and sensing the tea leaves is the only way make truly special oolong tea.